State Delegation Set To Reap Spoils Of Victory

WASHINGTON — They are all coming back, and for many in the Connecticut delegation it could well mean more power and influence.

"This is a new and entirely different set of circumstances," said an elated and hoarse Sen. Christopher J. Dodd in a telephone interview Wednesday. With Congress transformed by the departure of more than 150 incumbents, chances are good that some of Connecticut's eight delegation members -- seven of whom faced re-election this year -- will climb several rungs up the political ladder.

Their ascent will take the form of assignments to more-powerful committees and more-influential positions in the two parties' hierarchies.

Informal jockeying already has begun, as lawmakers scan the lists of losers to find out whose departure pushes incumbents further up the seniority ladder. Final decisions on committee makeup and leadership posts won't be made by the two parties' caucuses until early December.

Change farther down Pennsylvania Avenue is also likely to benefit the Connecticut delegation, which includes five moderate-to-liberal Democrats and two moderate Republicans. The seven are likely to find themselves generally compatible with the Clinton-Gore administration.

In fact, the two Republican moderates, Rep. Christopher Shays of the 4th District and Rep. Nancy L. Johnson of the 6th District, said in separate interviews Wednesday that they hope to play pivotal roles in moving the Republican Party back to the philosophical middle of the road.

The eighth member, conservative Rep. Gary A. Franks, R-5th District, is the only one likely to find himself in the political equivalent of Siberia in a city where the forces of moderation have regained control. He remains the only black Republican in Congress, but without a Republican in the White House, he will lack a significant power base.

The administration's key contact in the delegation could well be Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a Yale Law School classmate of Bill Clinton's and an early Clinton supporter.

Dodd, who was late to join the Clinton bandwagon, but was easily re-elected Tuesday night and is a highly visible spokesman for family issues in Congress, is also likely to have good entree into the administration.

Bills such as Dodd's Family and Medical Leave Act are strongly supported by Clinton and were used by the Senate Democratic leadership to help keep alive a Democratic pro-family agenda at a time when Republicans were slamming the Democrats for working against the interests of families.

Dodd said that while much will depend on what the Clinton-Gore administration wants to do first, he expects that Congress will quickly enact the family leave bill, which President Bush twice vetoed, expand aid to Head Start, which the Bush administration had opposed, and enact an economic stimulus package, which Bush also had opposed.

"You will have an administration that understands [these issues] and doesn't see them as something you reluctantly do," Dodd said.

Dodd said he expects to continue as chairman of a Senate children's subcommittee. He is also on the Foreign Relations, Banking and Budget committees and doesn't know yet if he would make any changes there.

Lieberman, who also expects quick movement on an economic agenda, is interested in joining the Senate Armed Services Committee or the Senate Appropriations Committee, leaving open the possibility that he might give up his spot on the Governmental Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Small Business Committee.

Either assignment -- Appropriations or Armed Services -- could propel Lieberman to a powerful post. He said he could rise rapidly on Armed Services and quickly become more influential because there are several vacancies.

The work of the armed services committees in the Senate and the House could hold great significance for defense-dependent Connecticut, as those panels will play a critical role in post-Cold War reductions in the military industrial complex.

Franks, at the moment the only Connecticut member on an armed services committee, said he wasn't certain he would try to keep his seat on that panel, or on the Aging and Small Business committees. He said he would check to see what else might be available.

Besides Lieberman in the Senate, two House members from Connecticut -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, and Shays are expected to bid for spots on the appropriations committees, arguably the most powerful because they hold sway over the entire federal budget.

Connecticut has not had a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee since Lieberman defeated then-Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1988. The House Appropriations Committee lost its only Connecticut member in 1984 when Republican John G. Rowland defeated Democratic Rep. William Ratchford in the 5th Congressional District.